Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr. is only focused on winning another World Series ring – and has no interest in being drawn into a kind of backup quarterback controversy.

“Always,” Almora said. “You guys know that.”

If Almora has ever answered an individual question by taking it away from a team-first direction and causing a mini-controversy, we haven’t heard it at his locker or seen it on Google News. That made the optical illusion so unbelievable when a photo of Almora in the Oval Office went viral last summer. No, that wasn’t Almora giving Donald Trump the middle finger when the Cubs visited the White House again.

From the moment the Cubs made him the first player drafted by the Theo Epstein administration, Almora has come across as self-aware, serious and professional. Even as a high school teenager, the Scott Boras client didn’t get giddy on his first conference call with the Chicago media, pointedly mentioning his full scholarship offer...